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Making the Most of a $500 Marketing Strategy

A Guide to a $500/Month Marketing Budget for Doctors

If you cringe just thinking about your advertising budget, perhaps it is time to re-evaluate your marketing plan. You should not have to break the bank in an effort to acquire new patients. Unlike traditional marketing strategies, in which your budget is primarily allocated for audience quantity, an effective digital marketing strategy emphasizes audience quality, targeting only those individuals who are most likely to become future patients. Using a well-formatted strategy, $500 can go a long way.

What is Your Marketing Plan?

How well have you developed your presence online? Do you rely on your website to drive patients to your office? Here at Optimized360, we often hear from clients who have taken steps to create an eye-catching and highly optimized website but are lacking the patient conversions they thought they would achieve. Here is what one of our sales team members had to say when asked about this common misconception:

“What I often hear from our clients is that they have a great website optimized for mobile users and search engines, but they aren’t getting a lot of patients. My first question is always: “Have you done any marketing?” They nearly always say no – usually because of budget constraint. Sometimes, their marketing strategies include bypassing online advertising in favor of traditional methods, such as flyers, direct mail, postcards, etc.”

Unfortunately, we deal with cases like this on a regular basis. Client after client contacts us with traditional marketing methods that are not working and are draining their budgets. They continue to spend money, yet they do not achieve the results they are paying for.

Why Choose Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is no longer an alternative form of advertising; it is the ultimate form of advertising. In today’s highly connected world, if your practice is not active on the Internet, you essentially do not exist.

Consider the following case study of a dentist spending $500 on digital vs. traditional marketing in Irvine, California:

Traditional Advertising – $500 is allotted for the production of custom fliers. At a cost of $0.06 per flier plus $0.49 for postage, the physician is spending $0.55 per ad, allowing for a total reach of just 909 people.

Digital Advertising – $500 attains ad-targeting to audiences within a five-mile geographical radius of the practice. With a cost per impression of just $0.05 per person, the physician’s efforts reach approximately 10,000 people.

Based on the numbers of this case study, we can make reasonable assumptions about patient conversions. With a modest 0.05% digital advertising conversion rate, you would acquire 5 new patients. Assuming each new patient generates revenues of $2,500, your total net profit would be $12,000. That is a 2,400% ROI. Compare that to the traditional marketing example, and the same patient conversion rate results in 0.45 new patients – less than one!

Below is a visual breakdown of the concept.

It Gets Better…

With the right strategy and a partnership with an experienced team of online medical marketers, you can supercharge your $500 investment to deliver an even more powerful ROI. With digital marketing, you may not want to spread your efforts among everyone in your area, but rather concentrate them exclusively on Internet users who are actively looking for a physician like you. By targeting specific keywords, your ads are no longer generated for random people, but instead for those who are in need of your services. It is easy to track your progress over time and make adjustments as you see fit.

At Optimized360, we know that many doctors are intimidated by online advertising – particularly due to the advanced software on the Google AdWords platform. Don’t let that scare you away. Instead of trying to navigate this complicated system, hire a team of experienced professionals who will go to work on your behalf. Companies with a Google AdWords certificate are a good place to start.

Do not fall into the trap of believing that more is always better. Why empty your pockets on traditional marketing when an affordable digital marketing campaign can be more effective at delivering a return on your investment? $500 may not seem like a lot, but a little goes a long way.

Let the team at Optimized360 transform your marketing plan and maximize your ROI. Call us today for more information. We look forward to serving you soon.

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